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FORT SASKATCHEWAN - Wildrose Leader Danielle Smith acknowledged Saturday her party has taken some “body blows” in the second half of the provincial election race, but said her party is still in good position to claim victory Monday night.

The comments came as Smith made her final campaign push in the Edmonton area, visiting a number of key ridings in and around the capital that could determine whether her party ends up as the new government or in opposition.

The Saturday itinerary culminated in a loud rally with about 250 Wildrose supporters packed into a storage bay in candidate Rick Newcombe’s Edmonton-Meadowlark campaign office.

“The energy and the optimism in our capital city is higher than I’ve ever seen it,” she told the crowd.

“I keep turning on the radio and am excited to hear the debate raging about the issues that are vital to our capital city — like whether the Oilers should keep or trade the first overall draft pick,” Smith added to a chorus of laughter.

“For the record, they should keep it. I hope I finally found something the mayor (Stephen Mandel) and I can agree on.”

Edmonton-Meadlowlark is believed to be one of those battleground constituencies where the Wildrose is in contention. It’s also where Liberal Leader Raj Sherman is fighting to keep his seat, though Smith decided to take a shot at his PC rival Bob Maskell.

She mentioned that Maskell, who served as an MLA from 2001-04, was given $200,000 worth of government contracts over a three-year period shortly after he lost his seat.

“He even charged $600 for a single meeting with Thomas Lukaszuk. I suppose that’s better than taking $1,000 a month for no meetings at all.”

Smith has indicated there are approximately 25 ridings where the Wildrose is running “neck and neck” with at least one rival party. Her presence in those constituencies in the last hours of the race can help motivate volunteers to push voters to the polls.

“We knew this was going to be a highly contested election and would come right down to the wire on election night, so we are doing our best to make sure every last vote gets out,” she said during a stop in Fort Saskatchewan, believed to be another tight race.

Earlier, in David Stasiewich’s campaign office in Leduc, Smith characterized the election as the last round of a boxing match.

“Boxing is much a game of endurance, and politics is a game of endurance,” she told volunteers and supporters. “I think we won Round 1. I think we won Round 2. I think we took a couple body blows this week in Round 3, but we’re still standing. We’re still strong going into these final days of the campaign.”

The Wildrose leader was referring to how controversy has surrounded the party in recent days over comments made by Calgary nominee Ron Leech, a blog posted by Edmonton candidate Allan Hunsperger and Smith’s own admission that she believes the science of climate change has not been settled.

Other stops Saturday included Sherwood Park and Sylvan Lake.

Shannon Stubbs, who is trying to dethrone the PCs in a Fort Saskatchewan-Vegreville riding that has been held by Ed Stelmach since 1993, said it’s difficult to know how it will go Monday. Stelmach won the riding by the highest margin of all Alberta constituencies in the 2008 election, but he won’t be on the ballot this time.

“The feedback I’ve received is positive,” Stubbs said. “People are interested in an alternative. But I know it’s pretty close.”

Smith, who will be in Calgary on Sunday, also challenged other party bosses to rein in “dirty campaign tactics” in the last days of the campaign. The Wildrose has complained about a number of incidents, many involving the misuse of robo-callers. The party said it has received complaints from several ridings all over the province, including: Edmonton-Gold Bar, Edmonton-Manning, Lac La Biche-St. Paul-Two Hills, Edmonton-Whitemud, Edmonton-Castle Downs, Lacombe-Ponoka, Edmonton-Mill Woods, Leduc-Beaumont, Grande Prairie-Wapiti, Grande Prairie-Smoky, and Edmonton-Beverly-Clareview.

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